THIS PAGE IS FOR THE ENGLISH 10 COLLABORATIVE SHORT STORY. YOU CAN ENTER AND ADD YOUR OWN PARAGRAPH AFTER OCT 27.
LAST ENTRY BY THE CLASS IS NOVEMBER 14, 2013.
Instructions: Keep it clean. No real names. My advice is to stick with the plot diagram we discussed (short story elements handout). Activating Circumstance, Rising Action, Climax, Denouement. Consider starting with Setting (time, place). You may write as much as you want, but remember it may be subsequently edited for grammar, fluency and cohesiveness.
(Message to fellow classmates from the two editors of this story: When you are editing this story, please be sure to leave the first paragraph alone, other people of this class has already contributed to this story following that idea, so if you do change the first paragraph, the whole story is going to result being messed up. And also, please note that you are allowed to change grammar mistakes or other minor mistakes if you find them when reading the story, but please do not change the core idea of the paragraph that your classmate spent their time writing. Thank you.)
The Lone Hunter
It was a dark and stormy night. The raindrops were pelting non-stop onto the forest floor, and they seemed as if they had no intention of stopping. Shira peeked out from behind the branches of the pine tree she was sitting on and hissed in annoyance as she blinked away rain from her eyes. How long had it been? How long had it been since her village banished her from their grounds and cruelly abandoned her to the mercy of nature? Honestly, Shira herself didn't really remember. All she could recall was the fact that she had never had a place in the village, and that she'd never known her parents. The villagers had spread rumours that Shira was brought up by wolves, and before long they started to call her the cursed one, or the tragedy-bringer. However, Shira never believed in what the villagers said about her. She had always wondered about her unknown powers, and whether they were meant for the wellness or destruction of this world. As an exceptionally fat raindrop landed right on her forehead, she realized that she couldn't keep wasting time dwelling on her past. Shira had been told to run away, as far as possible, and that she would be killed if found in the village's vicinity. Shira didn't want to fight the villagers. Although the only thing the village had done to her was turn her into an emotionless bag of skin and bones, she still felt slightly attached to the place itself. It had, after all, served as her home for as long as she could remember.
Shira got up and looked around. She did not have any place to go, so she could not decide which way she should head off. There was nothing around Shira but tall evergreens, making her look very small and vulnerable. The darkness and ominous shadows seemed to taunt her, but she was not scared; darkness was a part of her life, and after many years of spending entire nights outside, Shira was somehow able to see perfectly well even in the darkest hours of the night.
As she closed her eyes, Shira used her mind to probe around and feel for the warmth that living presences gave off. She could just barely feel the village, faintly pulsing with all the life energy of all the people in it. Feeling and tracking down living things had always been a natural ability for Shira, but in the forest, there were too many presences: a squirrel in a tree, a blue jay flying around overhead, and Shira couldn't tell which ones were threats or not, humans or animals. Their presences mingled together and confused Shira, so she decided to just rely on her eyes.
Shira regretted her decision all too late. She was completely unaware when, all of a sudden, a black shadow was behind her. It attacked her so fast that Shira had no time to react. Blood dripped down into her left eye from a gash right above her eyebrow, obstructing her vision. The breath was forced out of her lungs as a second shadow leaped out, aiming a blow at her diaphragm, and a little cry escaped her lips. That took Shira by surprise; she hadn't heard her own voice in weeks. It stunned her for a second, and a second too long. She was pushed to the ground, and blows rained down on her frail body till it felt numb. Shira was just about ready to give in to the pain and pass out when someone jerked her face up, and she found herself staring into a pair of amber eyes not unlike her own. Then something hit her on the back of her neck and she instantly fainted.
When Shira came to, she was still lying on the damp forest floor, pine needles continuously jabbing into her back. It was still raining, and the light drizzle had washed away the blood on her face. Shira's entire body ached, and every movement caused her muscles to shriek in pain, but worst of all, she felt humiliated and pathetic. People had been scared of her ever since she was a child, and it felt awkward to Shira when things were the other way around. The forest felt so big and she almost felt herself shrink smaller, a tiny speck compared to the her surroundings, so very vulnerable and helpless.
Shira knew she had to keep moving, but her body wouldn't let her. The rain clouds had cleared, and the stars were out. The stars were out! It was already night time. Shira had been lying around way too long. She turned over to get up, clenching her teeth in pain, when suddenly, she heard a very strange voice. It started out a little bit like a whimper, but grew into a wolf howl. Back in the village, Shira had overheard a mother telling her son a story about how wolves like to howl at the moon. Shira looked up, and yes, there was the moon, a tiny sliver of white glowing in the black sky. Shira lay back down and listened to the wolves. It was beautiful; their voices were pure and wild, with a hint of sadness. Shira closed her eyes, hypnotized by the different voices intertwining with each other into a complex harmony that somehow comforted her. She was blissfully ignorant of the fact that no wolves lived in the country. As the pain started to fade, Shira’s mind became clearer and she thought back on the unexpected attack. She wasn’t sure what had caught her off guard. Normally, she could defend herself remarkably well. A lifetime of fending off enemies of all kinds had rewarded her with swift reflexes and a constant alertness to her surroundings. She usually didn't show any mercy in combat, but something about one of the attackers had thrown Shira off. Shira closed her eyes, trying to figure it out, but there were just too many missing pieces. Why did that person jerk her head up at the end instead of killing her? She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had seen those amber eyes before. And all of a sudden, she saw an image of a younger version of herself laughing merrily under a tree with a golden-haired boy with bright amber eyes. The image flashed through Shira's mind for less than a second, but Shira knew that it was no dream. That golden- haired boy was one who'd attacked her. As much as Shira's instincts screamed at her to get as far away from the attackers as possible, curiosity soon had her running back to where the attack had taken place.
As Shira got closer, she slowed her pace, and carefully placed each foot down silently, afraid that there might be another ambush. Shira couldn't feel any presences nearby so she decided to wait in a nearby shrub that just managed to conceal her. She found a space through the branches of the shrubs and peeked out to see if anyone was coming. No one did. As the hours trudged by, Shira grew impatient and drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep. In her sleep, Shira saw some mysterious creatures approaching her bush, and held her breath, hoping they hadn't discovered her. The creatures, which appeared to be oversized, silvery dogs, stopped about forty metres away from Shira's bush. Shira realized that they must be wolves, was shocked to see that there was a human sitting on the largest of the pack. She decided to approach them, trying to get a better look at the wolves and to see if the human was a threat. Slowly, Shira crept out of the bush she was hiding in, and carefully manoeuvred her way through the fallen twigs and branches of the tall trees standing around her. Now she had come closer to them, she could clearly see that the human was a woman holding a trident in her hand.She seemed to be very powerful, like the attackers from the day before, and that enticed Shira to go even closer. It was just then that Shira's hand landed on a twig, snapping it in half with a loud "crack" that almost seemed to echo in the silent forest air. She was surprised but immediately hauled herself up, ready to run. There were flashes of silver as all the wolves turned their snouts towards her. Shira staggered backward. The woman turned around, and Shira saw that she had amber eyes as well, but they were cold and hard as stone. Her eyes flashed and instantly, the wolves hurtled toward her like arrows. Shira turned around to run but her knees buckled beneath her. A high-pitched pierced the evening air as a heavy weight landed on her and knocked her to the ground, and Shira realized it was her own.
A massive paw slammed into Shira's chest and almost squeezed all the oxygen out of her lungs. She tried to move but the paw pinned her down on the forest floor effortlessly. Shira squinted up to see a huge wolf snarling down at her, and noticed that its eyes were amber, too. Just like her own, just like the golden haired boy, and the woman riding on the wolf. As Shira stared on into the pair of glowing amber eyes, something sparkled within her, but before she had time to figure it out, she woke up, and was startled to see that, unlike the rest of her dream, the wolf was still there, holding her down with one paw. Shira panicked, not knowing if she was awake or not, and bit herself as hard as she could on her wrist to see if she was still dreaming. The wolf cocked its head, clearly confused by the girl's actions. Pain shot up Shira's arm, but it didn't make the wolf go away. The wolf wasn't snarling any more; in fact, it looked rather curious. "That's what you get for falling asleep when you were supposed to be on watch." A voice called out from above. "Let her go now. I think we've scared her enough." The wolf took its paw off of Shira and bounded away into the shadows, where a masked figure dropped out from the branches of a tree. Shira remembered what she had come to do. Without any warning, she leapt at the figure's face, aiming to remove the mask, but the wolf blocked her way, batting her to the ground with a single paw. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, and it gave her a wolfish smile. Then it bounced over, nudging at her legs. Get up, let's play some more, she almost heard it say. Shira relaxed a little bit; the wolf wasn't hostile. She got up, decided on a strategy to get to the boy's mask without the wolf's interference, and tried again. The boy sidestepped, dodging Shira's attack easily, and removed the mask by himself, revealing his amber eyes. "You could've just asked, you know?" Shira got up and frowned. The boy was unmistakably mocking her, and she was reaching the end of her patience.
"Who are you? How did you know I was hiding there? Why did you attack me the other day? Why didn't you just kill me? What do you want from me?"
"Whoa, there. Slow down. I can't answer everything at once. Who am I, was it?" The boy brushed a leaf off his dark blonde hair, "Wow, that memory thing they did to you really worked. You don't remember me at all?"
"Who are you?" Shira persisted.
"The name's Shay. What about you? Are you still Shira, or did the villagers change your name?"
Perhaps it was being lonely for too long, or maybe it was the boy's relaxed attitude, but Shira decided to give some trust to the boy-wolf duo.
"It's Shira. How do you know my name? And how did you know where I was hiding?"
"You didn't suppress your aura at all. You might as well have been jumping up and down and waving your arms around, yelling at me that you were in the bush. You've always been pretty hopeless at that stuff. Looks like you haven't improved at all."
"Aura? Suppress my aura? What are you talking about?"
Shay sighed.
"Okay, I get it, I get it, you remember nothing at all. Well, we shouldn't stay here too long. Let's get moving. I'll tell you on the way."
Shira was confused, startled, and very shaken, especially after having a humongous wolf try to play fight with her. But above all, she felt a strange happiness oozing out of her. She'd been alone for so long, she'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a conversation with another human. Shira decided that she might as well trust Shay for the meantime, since she wouldn't be able to get very far by on her own. Shira wondered if this was what having a friend was like. In the village, she'd often seen kids around her own age spending time with their friends, but she'd never had any of her own, so she didn't know what it was like. As they walked through the forest, Shay tried to clear some of Shira's confusion. It was hard for Shira to take in, but she couldn't see any harm in listening, so she tried to remember everything Shay said.
According to Shay, Shira was the daughter of the Okami clan's alpha, and was supposed to become alpha as well eventually. However, when she was born, she seemed to have inherited no powers whatsoever from the Okami clan. The members of the Okami clan were the hunting partners of wolves, and were skilled fighters. Basic skills in the Okami clan included being able to sense auras and control your own, as well as telepathic communications with at least your own wolf and a sharpened sense of hearing, smell, and night vision. Shay explained that they had all the advantages in life that a wolf had and even the weakest member always had all of these basic skills. Shira, on the other hand, was born with none. They had hoped that she was just a late bloomer, but even by age five, Shira was seriously behind in almost every way. The alpha decided that keeping her in the clan any longer would be a disgrace, so one day, she abandoned Shira in a human village and sealed all her memories of the Okami clan. From there, Shay didn't know how life had been like for Shira. Nobody had ever inquired about how Shira felt, and she felt a bit hesitant to expose her weakness to a stranger. But, since she'd already come so far, Shira decided to risk it. She told Shay about how the villagers had given her a foster family to live in, and how they had been nice to her, giving her candies and a warm bed at night. She told him about how one day they had suddenly died and she was forced to move to another family. Once again, mysterious deaths occurred after her arrival. People blamed it on Shira, saying that she was a curse, and from then on, they despised her and left her to sleep on the streets. She had had countless doors shut in her face as she begged for food, or to spend the night in an especially bad snowstorm. Shira decided to keep her powers a secret. It's better for him to underestimate me, she reasoned. They walked in silence for a while. Suddenly, Shay stopped walking.
"Damn it, I forgot about my bodyguards. I hope they're still sleeping."
Shira cocked her head.
"Bodyguards?"
"Yeah, I was supposed to become alpha after Keira, so I have a bunch of bodyguards. It might sound kind of cool to have bodyguards, but they're really clingy. Oh, and they're the ones who beat you up, so if you're going to hold a grudge against someone, hold it against them. I'm free of guilt," Shay laughed, then added, "I really hope they're still sleeping."
"Who's Keira?" Shira asked.
"The current alpha. Your mother. She's one of the most powerful alphas the Okami clan has ever had, which reminds me, have your powers improved at all over the years?"
"I don't know."
"Right, let's test them out then. We're going to play hide-and-seek without opening our eyes or talking, got it?"
Shira furrowed her brow.
"That's not possible."
Shay shook his head.
"Man, you've spent way too much time in that human village. Listen, you could do this even when you were four. You've just got to-"
As Shay blabbered on, Shira suddenly remembered that she could sense people's presences.
"I got it! Okay, you hide first," she interrupted.
Shay raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, if you think so. Close your eyes and keep them closed."
Shira did as she was told and instantly felt Shay's presence pulsing right next to her. This was going to be a piece of cake. It looked like she wasn't as useless as Shay had said she was.
"I'll be hiding now. You can come after me after five seconds. Just to make it easy, I won't even hide my aura."
Instantly, Shay's presence began to fade. After a while, Shira realized that it was mixing with the other living things in the forest. She couldn't tell which one was which. She started off towards the nearest aura, walking slowly to avoid hitting trees. As she reached it, she heard a flutter of wings and opened her eyes just as a startled sparrow flew away in a frenzy. These presences are all the same, she thought to herself. She couldn't tell the difference between a sparrow and Shay. She tried again several times, scaring off squirrels, birds, and eventually walking straight into Shay's wolf. She sat down, frustrated. A voice laughed at her from above.
"At least you'e not walking into stuff any more," Shay jumped out from a tree.
"How am I supposed to tell which presence belongs to who in such a huge forest?" Shira asked, annoyed at her failure.
"I see. So you can't see the shape of my aura. Well, there isn't much we can do about that. Let's try to at least find some way to hide your aura," Shay said, sitting down next to her.
"Why do I have to hide my aura?" Shira had finally learned that "aura" was the proper word for "presence".
"In case if my bodyguards catch up."
"How do I do it?"
"It's hard to explain. We were all born with this ability," Shay thought for a second. "Can you at least feel your own aura?"
Shira closed her eyes, and focused on her new task. She felt three auras. She distanced herself from Shay and the wolf, then focused again, and yes, there it was, one aura that was stronger than the other two, pulsing from within her.
"I can feel it," she announced. Shay let out his breath.
"Finally, something that you can do. Okay, now try to...um, swallow it, I guess."
Shira had no idea what he meant, but she tried to imagine her aura being engulfed and smothered by darkness. The image in her head looked convincing to her, but her aura was still there, just as strong as before.
"Can you demo it for me?" she asked Shay. Shay showed no signs of concentration or even preparation, but Shira suddenly felt an aura disappear from the three that she had identified. She gasped in shock.
"It's that easy?" she asked.
"It's the same as eating and breathing. Like I said, I could do it since I was born."
Seeing Shira's disappointment, Shay quickly changed the subject.
"You know that although you're completely useless at the other stuff, you've got this supposedly awesome power, right?"
"No," Shira lied.
"You're a horrible liar," Shay laughed.
Shira felt her face go red. She mumbled indignantly that she wasn't lying, but stopped after realizing Shay was just teasing her again.
"You probably know more about it. I just see it as a curse," she finally managed to say.
"You're not that wrong. It's why I'm here. The clan doesn't see you as a disgrace any more. Instead, you're a threat, because you've got this crazy power. Bad news is, they're trying to assassinate you since...you know, you're kind of bad at using your power. Even my bodyguards are trying to kill you."
"So why didn't you assassinate me?" For the first time in her conversation with Shay, Shira felt a little bit suspicious. If the whole clan wanted to assassinate her, why was Shay here telling her about it, as if he was warning her? Didn't that count as betraying the clan?
"Because-"
Before Shay could answer, something sounded in the distance. Shira immediately turned to where the sound came from, waiting for it to come again. It sounded exactly like the sounds from her dream: wolves howling and calling out to each other. Another howl sprang up somewhere much closer to them, as if it was answering to the first wolf. Shay's wolf got up and whimpered at Shay.
"I know, I know, of course they weren't sleeping. I was just kidding about that," Shay said to the wolf.
Shira flinched, remembering about the woman with the trident in her dream, and she thought about the hard amber eyes that had been haunting her for so long.
More and more howls echoed around them as Shira turned frantically to see if anything was attacking them. She slipped her knife out of her belt and swirled it in her hands, ready to take out anything. Something warm touched her other hand and Shira swung her knife, unaware that it was only Shay's hand touching hers. Shay stopped her arm in mid-air with his other hand, and then suddenly Shira heard a voice in her head. Can you hear me? Shira turned around wildly.
"Did you hear someone say something?" she asked Shay.
He was grinning from ear to ear. Then Shira heard the voice again. You can finally hear me telepathically! That's definitely an improvement. Okay, from here on out, don't talk any more. It's too dangerous for the enemy to hear us. If you want to say something, just say it in your mind and aim it at my aura.
Shira decided to test it out. Can you hear me? Shay nodded at her, still grinning. In Shira's head, Shay's voice started up again. Shira, keep calm and don't try to attack. Run if you get cornered. You don't stand a chance against any of these people. To be completely honest, even I'd have trouble. Keira's here, with her whole pack. Those bloody bodyguards just don't understand the concept of loyalty; they must've reported me to the alpha. Shira nodded. Got it, she responded. She was still curious about this new concept of telepathy, but shook her head, trying to focus on the situation at hand. Shay, does Keira like to use tridents? Shay looked at her. Only against people she really feels like killing. Normally, she just sits on her wolf and the rest of the pack does the work for her. She rarely fights. So you do remember some stuff, don't you? Shira felt as if a rock had settled in her stomach as she realized that the dream was real. No, I just had a dream about it some time ago. Shira now knew that the woman with the trident was Keira, her mother. Shay, she's here to finish me off, isn't she? Shay looked straight on forward into the trees. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? Either way, we've got to try and prevent that from happening, don't we? He turned around and smiled at her, as if the whole thing was just a game. Shira knew that it was no game, but felt comforted nonetheless. That feeling was instantly shattered as bushes started rustling all around them.. Shay's wolf began to bark at the bushes, as if warning whatever was in there to stay away. The forest returned to its quiet state again as the rustling stopped, replaced by huffing and snarling. They were positioned in a circle, surrounding Shira and Shay, but none of them made a move. They're waiting for someone, Shira told herself, someone I do not want to meet. Shira, run away before Keira gets here. My wolf will help you. Hurry! Shay's voice was commanding yet almost desperate, and Shira felt obliged to listen, but just when she'd started running away, something stopped her. She could sense at least ten auras back there, and she realized that she couldn't just leave Shay to fight all of them by himself. Another voice appeared in her head. Go back! What are you doing? Shira was surprised; did Shay's wolf just talk to her? Hey! Don't just ignore me! You are so committing suicide by going back there right now. The wolf stepped on her feet with one of it's enormous, silver paws. Shira looked at the wolf and focused on its aura, sending it a telepathic message. Let's go back and help Shay fight the enemy. It won't be an easy fight for him; he said so himself. The wolf persisted, pressing down even harder on her feet. Shay told me to protect you till we got away from the enemy. It was an order; I have to follow it. Shira was just about ready to give up fighting with the wolf when both of them heard a loud yell; the voice unmistakably belonged to Shay.
Shira told to wolf to let go. She could see that it was beginning to get convinced. She gave her foot a quick jerk and the wolf released her. Let's hurry, she told it, and started to run back in the direction in which she'd come from, the wolf at her heels. When they arrived, Shira was horrified to see Shay tied to a tree, but was even more startled to see that he was completely uninjured and still smiling. Shira was about to run up and untie him until she caught sight of something she'd been dreading the entire time: a woman with long hair sitting on a massive wolf, with a trident in her hand. Shira's breath caught; something about this woman gave her the urge to leave Shay and just run away as far as she could. Shay seemed to sense her fear.
"Don't get intimidated by her wolf! It's just ridiculously fat," he called out to her.
Shira's limbs unfroze. She was still terrified, but Shay calmness was almost contagious. Shira was thinking of ways to get past the wolf-lady when all of a sudden, the woman spoke.
"Shay, is this the girl we were looking for?" Her voice was cool and hard, like her eyes had appeared in Shira's dream. Shira felt lucky that the woman hadn't turned around yet; she did not want to see those eyes in real life.
"These eyes?" the woman turned around, her steely eyes digging like knives into Shira's.
Shira had to stop herself from gasping. The woman had just read her mind.
"That doesn't count as mind reading. You think in words, so I can hear you telepathically," The woman turned back to Shay. "Well, is she the one?"
"You bet," Shay responded, not seeming the least bit scared. "What are you going to do, Keira?"
Keira ignored him, and turned to face Shira again.
"Were you so useless that even the humans shunned you?"
Shira flinched; Keira had hit her weak spot, like sprinkling salt into a wound that hadn't yet stopped bleeding.
"I see. You really are a disgrace. Shay, good job for finding your sister so fast. We can kill her right now."
Sister? Did Keira just say "sister"? Shira was baffled. This was happening too fast. Was Shira supposed to be Shay's sister? She stood there, dazed, and watched as Shay argued with Keira for a while, not really hearing anything as the news began to sink in. Shira had had a family, a mother, perhaps a father, and a brother. She hadn't been always alone, like she'd always assumed.
"Shira! Run!" The desperation in Shay's voice was what snapped Shira out of her daze. She saw Keira get off the wolf, and twirl the trident a few times. I'm going to get killed now, she thought to herself. As Keira got closer, time seemed to slow down, and bit by bit, it looked as if Keira was trying to run through mud. Everything became silent. Shira was one step away from being killed by her own mother; so she decided that it was okay that she was going insane. A strange calmness spread through Shira's body, and her mind cleared. She thought back on her life, her miserable, pathetic life. She remembered the nights in the village when she'd walked past people's windows, seeing families laughing together in front of a warm fire. She remembered how her tears had frozen on her face in the coldest winter nights, and how she'd taught herself to keep them in, so as not to freeze her already-frozen face. She remembered how all the other children had parents and siblings to care for them, to laugh with them, even to argue with them. She remembered how everyone had looked at her as she was transparent, how the adults told the children to stay away from her, Shira the tragedy bringer. She looked back at Keira, who was now so slow it looked as if she was barely moving. I could run away right now, Shira thought, but for some reason, her feet didn't budge. Shira's tried not to look at Keira's face; she didn't want such an image to be her last view of the world, but curiosity took over her, and she looked up straight into Keira's eyes. They were just the same as always: so cold and hard, two pieces of ice. Shira couldn't tear her eyes away from them. The more she looked at them, the more she felt a strong anger blazing up in her. Keira didn't even lose her cool when killing her own daughter. Shira had never been the type who'd clung desperately to life, unable to accept death, but Shira realized that she could not tolerate being killed by her own mother. Her anger was like fire, raging and smouldering. She saw Keira's trident swing above her head, and felt for the first time in her life a killing intent so strong coming from her enemy. A faint smile tugged at Keira's mouth. That did it. Shira realized that Keira was actually enjoying herself, enjoying killing someone else. Her emotions engulfed her. She felt something rip in her body and suddenly, thousands of visions flooded her mind. She ripped the memory seal! Shira heard Shay exclaim to his wolf. Through her anger, she was still able to see a child version of herself playing close-your-eyes hide-and-seek with a very small Shay, and saw herself walking straight into a rock wall. A younger Keira was watching them, with softer features and slightly shorter hair. But she had the same eyes, so emotionless and indifferent.
In the present, Shira's anger had shattered her slow-motion world, and exploded, as if it was forcing its way out of her body. She did not know how, but Keira was sent flying backwards by Shira's outburst. Shira felt as if she was possessed by her own anger, and it seemed to form a new aura around her. She could see it clearly now; not just her own aura, but also everyone else's. Shira watched, through eyes that felt as they didn't belong to her, as her mother was smashed against a tree. She felt an intense satisfaction as she saw the cold look in Keira's eyes become replaced by shock, although it only lasted for a split second. Matching up against the title of alpha, Keira swiftly regained her position and gathered her wolf pack. Out of the corner of her eye, Shira noticed, for the first time, a look of fear spread across Shay's face, and his mouth moved as though he was yelling something at her. But Shira wasn't listening. No, she was laughing, laughing so hard that she couldn't hear anything else. She had just defeated the alpha.
"Don't get so full of yourself. Just because you didn't die immediately doesn't mean you've defeated anyone." Keira said.
The confidence and certainty in her voice didn't match her newly acquired injuries. Meanwhile, Shira was struggling to maintain her own conscience. She was obviously out of control, and she wasn't even sure what she was thinking any more. The only things moving her body were her anger and sheer instinct. She struggled to spit out her words.
"If I were you, I'd be embarrassed to call myself alpha," she finally managed to sputter.
Anger flashed in Keira's eyes for a moment. Instantly, the wolves were upon Shira, but the new aura surrounding Shira seemed to repel everything. The wolves only succeeded in diverting Shira's attention for awhile. Shira was unprepared when Keira suddenly appeared, trident in her hand, this time much faster. Shira noticed that her killing intent had become violently wild. Just before Keira's arm swung down, Shira's eyes met hers for a second. Two sets of amber eyes, one seemingly insane with anger, and the other blank and empty. Shira felt her own killing intent flare up. She had no time to think as she madly lashed out at Keira, with her mind and arms. Shira felt her body convulse as all her energy suddenly left her body. She didn't even know where she had aimed, but she knew that she was done fighting. If Keira was going to kill her now, she would have nothing left. She opened her eyes and looked at the results of her attack. She saw Keira lying in one corner, and relaxed. The attack had obviously taken out the alpha. However, she saw a silver wolf pad towards another tree. Shira turned around, wondering what the wolf was doing. What she saw almost made her cry out in shock. There, still tied to the tree, sat Shay, chest torn apart and blood covering his body, his breath shallow and fast.
Shira's knees felt weak, but she made herself walk over to Shay. Now that her missing memories were back, she felt much more connected to her brother. They'd argued a lot, like all siblings, and Shay had always made fun of Shira's missing powers. However, they'd always stuck together, and Shira understood now what Shay must've felt like when he realized that she'd forgotten everything about him. Shay, I got my memory back, she told him telepathically. We're siblings. I remember now. Shay didn't look up, but she could still hear his voice in her head. Shira, that was one damn cool attack there. Make sure you aim correctly next time. Then Shira remembered. She was the one who'd did this to Shay. It was because she couldn't control her power, so she didn't aim correctly. Shira tried to say sorry, but she wasn't even able to send it telepathically. She'd never felt so useless before, not even while she was in the village. She waited for Shay to look up, to smile, to present some crazy healing technique, but all he did was sit there. After a long time, Shay's wolf went behind the tree and bit off the rope. He's gone, the wolf announced. Don't blame yourself, Shira. Really. If he were here, he'd probably say the same thing. You've got to stay alive. You don't have to die just because people want you to. Shay came here to prevent your death, and the least you can do now is stay alive so that we can kind of convince ourselves his death wasn't for nothing. You should run now, before Alpha wakes up. Don't worry, we'll be with you, in your shadow, so you won't be alone. That's a saying from our clan. Then the wolf started digging a hole, and Shira supposed he was going to bury Shay. She looked at her shadow, created by the setting sun. Yes, she thought, my shadow will always be with me, she thought. It was a comforting thought. She started off in a random direction and kept walking till late night. Shira felt exhausted, and decided to take a break. She looked up at the moonless sky; it was completely dark, but her night vision allowed her to see perfectly well. It was then that Shira looked down and realized that, without any light from the moon, her shadow was already gone.
LAST ENTRY BY THE CLASS IS NOVEMBER 14, 2013.
Instructions: Keep it clean. No real names. My advice is to stick with the plot diagram we discussed (short story elements handout). Activating Circumstance, Rising Action, Climax, Denouement. Consider starting with Setting (time, place). You may write as much as you want, but remember it may be subsequently edited for grammar, fluency and cohesiveness.
(Message to fellow classmates from the two editors of this story: When you are editing this story, please be sure to leave the first paragraph alone, other people of this class has already contributed to this story following that idea, so if you do change the first paragraph, the whole story is going to result being messed up. And also, please note that you are allowed to change grammar mistakes or other minor mistakes if you find them when reading the story, but please do not change the core idea of the paragraph that your classmate spent their time writing. Thank you.)
The Lone Hunter
It was a dark and stormy night. The raindrops were pelting non-stop onto the forest floor, and they seemed as if they had no intention of stopping. Shira peeked out from behind the branches of the pine tree she was sitting on and hissed in annoyance as she blinked away rain from her eyes. How long had it been? How long had it been since her village banished her from their grounds and cruelly abandoned her to the mercy of nature? Honestly, Shira herself didn't really remember. All she could recall was the fact that she had never had a place in the village, and that she'd never known her parents. The villagers had spread rumours that Shira was brought up by wolves, and before long they started to call her the cursed one, or the tragedy-bringer. However, Shira never believed in what the villagers said about her. She had always wondered about her unknown powers, and whether they were meant for the wellness or destruction of this world.
As an exceptionally fat raindrop landed right on her forehead, she realized that she couldn't keep wasting time dwelling on her past. Shira had been told to run away, as far as possible, and that she would be killed if found in the village's vicinity. Shira didn't want to fight the villagers. Although the only thing the village had done to her was turn her into an emotionless bag of skin and bones, she still felt slightly attached to the place itself. It had, after all, served as her home for as long as she could remember.
Shira got up and looked around. She did not have any place to go, so she could not decide which way she should head off. There was nothing around Shira but tall evergreens, making her look very small and vulnerable. The darkness and ominous shadows seemed to taunt her, but she was not scared; darkness was a part of her life, and after many years of spending entire nights outside, Shira was somehow able to see perfectly well even in the darkest hours of the night.
As she closed her eyes, Shira used her mind to probe around and feel for the warmth that living presences gave off. She could just barely feel the village, faintly pulsing with all the life energy of all the people in it. Feeling and tracking down living things had always been a natural ability for Shira, but in the forest, there were too many presences: a squirrel in a tree, a blue jay flying around overhead, and Shira couldn't tell which ones were threats or not, humans or animals. Their presences mingled together and confused Shira, so she decided to just rely on her eyes.
Shira regretted her decision all too late. She was completely unaware when, all of a sudden, a black shadow was behind her. It attacked her so fast that Shira had no time to react. Blood dripped down into her left eye from a gash right above her eyebrow, obstructing her vision. The breath was forced out of her lungs as a second shadow leaped out, aiming a blow at her diaphragm, and a little cry escaped her lips. That took Shira by surprise; she hadn't heard her own voice in weeks. It stunned her for a second, and a second too long. She was pushed to the ground, and blows rained down on her frail body till it felt numb. Shira was just about ready to give in to the pain and pass out when someone jerked her face up, and she found herself staring into a pair of amber eyes not unlike her own. Then something hit her on the back of her neck and she instantly fainted.
When Shira came to, she was still lying on the damp forest floor, pine needles continuously jabbing into her back. It was still raining, and the light drizzle had washed away the blood on her face. Shira's entire body ached, and every movement caused her muscles to shriek in pain, but worst of all, she felt humiliated and pathetic. People had been scared of her ever since she was a child, and it felt awkward to Shira when things were the other way around. The forest felt so big and she almost felt herself shrink smaller, a tiny speck compared to the her surroundings, so very vulnerable and helpless.
Shira knew she had to keep moving, but her body wouldn't let her. The rain clouds had cleared, and the stars were out. The stars were out! It was already night time. Shira had been lying around way too long. She turned over to get up, clenching her teeth in pain, when suddenly, she heard a very strange voice. It started out a little bit like a whimper, but grew into a wolf howl. Back in the village, Shira had overheard a mother telling her son a story about how wolves like to howl at the moon. Shira looked up, and yes, there was the moon, a tiny sliver of white glowing in the black sky. Shira lay back down and listened to the wolves. It was beautiful; their voices were pure and wild, with a hint of sadness. Shira closed her eyes, hypnotized by the different voices intertwining with each other into a complex harmony that somehow comforted her. She was blissfully ignorant of the fact that no wolves lived in the country.
As the pain started to fade, Shira’s mind became clearer and she thought back on the unexpected attack. She wasn’t sure what had caught her off guard. Normally, she could defend herself remarkably well. A lifetime of fending off enemies of all kinds had rewarded her with swift reflexes and a constant alertness to her surroundings. She usually didn't show any mercy in combat, but something about one of the attackers had thrown Shira off. Shira closed her eyes, trying to figure it out, but there were just too many missing pieces. Why did that person jerk her head up at the end instead of killing her? She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had seen those amber eyes before. And all of a sudden, she saw an image of a younger version of herself laughing merrily under a tree with a golden-haired boy with bright amber eyes. The image flashed through Shira's mind for less than a second, but Shira knew that it was no dream. That golden- haired boy was one who'd attacked her. As much as Shira's instincts screamed at her to get as far away from the attackers as possible, curiosity soon had her running back to where the attack had taken place.
As Shira got closer, she slowed her pace, and carefully placed each foot down silently, afraid that there might be another ambush. Shira couldn't feel any presences nearby so she decided to wait in a nearby shrub that just managed to conceal her. She found a space through the branches of the shrubs and peeked out to see if anyone was coming. No one did. As the hours trudged by, Shira grew impatient and drifted off into an uncomfortable sleep.
In her sleep, Shira saw some mysterious creatures approaching her bush, and held her breath, hoping they hadn't discovered her. The creatures, which appeared to be oversized, silvery dogs, stopped about forty metres away from Shira's bush. Shira realized that they must be wolves, was shocked to see that there was a human sitting on the largest of the pack. She decided to approach them, trying to get a better look at the wolves and to see if the human was a threat. Slowly, Shira crept out of the bush she was hiding in, and carefully manoeuvred her way through the fallen twigs and branches of the tall trees standing around her. Now she had come closer to them, she could clearly see that the human was a woman holding a trident in her hand.She seemed to be very powerful, like the attackers from the day before, and that enticed Shira to go even closer. It was just then that Shira's hand landed on a twig, snapping it in half with a loud "crack" that almost seemed to echo in the silent forest air. She was surprised but immediately hauled herself up, ready to run.
There were flashes of silver as all the wolves turned their snouts towards her. Shira staggered backward. The woman turned around, and Shira saw that she had amber eyes as well, but they were cold and hard as stone. Her eyes flashed and instantly, the wolves hurtled toward her like arrows. Shira turned around to run but her knees buckled beneath her. A high-pitched pierced the evening air as a heavy weight landed on her and knocked her to the ground, and Shira realized it was her own.
A massive paw slammed into Shira's chest and almost squeezed all the oxygen out of her lungs. She tried to move but the paw pinned her down on the forest floor effortlessly. Shira squinted up to see a huge wolf snarling down at her, and noticed that its eyes were amber, too. Just like her own, just like the golden haired boy, and the woman riding on the wolf. As Shira stared on into the pair of glowing amber eyes, something sparkled within her, but before she had time to figure it out, she woke up, and was startled to see that, unlike the rest of her dream, the wolf was still there, holding her down with one paw. Shira panicked, not knowing if she was awake or not, and bit herself as hard as she could on her wrist to see if she was still dreaming. The wolf cocked its head, clearly confused by the girl's actions. Pain shot up Shira's arm, but it didn't make the wolf go away. The wolf wasn't snarling any more; in fact, it looked rather curious.
"That's what you get for falling asleep when you were supposed to be on watch." A voice called out from above. "Let her go now. I think we've scared her enough."
The wolf took its paw off of Shira and bounded away into the shadows, where a masked figure dropped out from the branches of a tree. Shira remembered what she had come to do. Without any warning, she leapt at the figure's face, aiming to remove the mask, but the wolf blocked her way, batting her to the ground with a single paw. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, and it gave her a wolfish smile. Then it bounced over, nudging at her legs. Get up, let's play some more, she almost heard it say. Shira relaxed a little bit; the wolf wasn't hostile. She got up, decided on a strategy to get to the boy's mask without the wolf's interference, and tried again. The boy sidestepped, dodging Shira's attack easily, and removed the mask by himself, revealing his amber eyes.
"You could've just asked, you know?"
Shira got up and frowned. The boy was unmistakably mocking her, and she was reaching the end of her patience.
"Who are you? How did you know I was hiding there? Why did you attack me the other day? Why didn't you just kill me? What do you want from me?"
"Whoa, there. Slow down. I can't answer everything at once. Who am I, was it?" The boy brushed a leaf off his dark blonde hair, "Wow, that memory thing they did to you really worked. You don't remember me at all?"
"Who are you?" Shira persisted.
"The name's Shay. What about you? Are you still Shira, or did the villagers change your name?"
Perhaps it was being lonely for too long, or maybe it was the boy's relaxed attitude, but Shira decided to give some trust to the boy-wolf duo.
"It's Shira. How do you know my name? And how did you know where I was hiding?"
"You didn't suppress your aura at all. You might as well have been jumping up and down and waving your arms around, yelling at me that you were in the bush. You've always been pretty hopeless at that stuff. Looks like you haven't improved at all."
"Aura? Suppress my aura? What are you talking about?"
Shay sighed.
"Okay, I get it, I get it, you remember nothing at all. Well, we shouldn't stay here too long. Let's get moving. I'll tell you on the way."
Shira was confused, startled, and very shaken, especially after having a humongous wolf try to play fight with her. But above all, she felt a strange happiness oozing out of her. She'd been alone for so long, she'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a conversation with another human. Shira decided that she might as well trust Shay for the meantime, since she wouldn't be able to get very far by on her own. Shira wondered if this was what having a friend was like. In the village, she'd often seen kids around her own age spending time with their friends, but she'd never had any of her own, so she didn't know what it was like. As they walked through the forest, Shay tried to clear some of Shira's confusion. It was hard for Shira to take in, but she couldn't see any harm in listening, so she tried to remember everything Shay said.
According to Shay, Shira was the daughter of the Okami clan's alpha, and was supposed to become alpha as well eventually. However, when she was born, she seemed to have inherited no powers whatsoever from the Okami clan. The members of the Okami clan were the hunting partners of wolves, and were skilled fighters. Basic skills in the Okami clan included being able to sense auras and control your own, as well as telepathic communications with at least your own wolf and a sharpened sense of hearing, smell, and night vision. Shay explained that they had all the advantages in life that a wolf had and even the weakest member always had all of these basic skills. Shira, on the other hand, was born with none. They had hoped that she was just a late bloomer, but even by age five, Shira was seriously behind in almost every way. The alpha decided that keeping her in the clan any longer would be a disgrace, so one day, she abandoned Shira in a human village and sealed all her memories of the Okami clan. From there, Shay didn't know how life had been like for Shira. Nobody had ever inquired about how Shira felt, and she felt a bit hesitant to expose her weakness to a stranger. But, since she'd already come so far, Shira decided to risk it. She told Shay about how the villagers had given her a foster family to live in, and how they had been nice to her, giving her candies and a warm bed at night. She told him about how one day they had suddenly died and she was forced to move to another family. Once again, mysterious deaths occurred after her arrival. People blamed it on Shira, saying that she was a curse, and from then on, they despised her and left her to sleep on the streets. She had had countless doors shut in her face as she begged for food, or to spend the night in an especially bad snowstorm. Shira decided to keep her powers a secret. It's better for him to underestimate me, she reasoned. They walked in silence for a while. Suddenly, Shay stopped walking.
"Damn it, I forgot about my bodyguards. I hope they're still sleeping."
Shira cocked her head.
"Bodyguards?"
"Yeah, I was supposed to become alpha after Keira, so I have a bunch of bodyguards. It might sound kind of cool to have bodyguards, but they're really clingy. Oh, and they're the ones who beat you up, so if you're going to hold a grudge against someone, hold it against them. I'm free of guilt," Shay laughed, then added, "I really hope they're still sleeping."
"Who's Keira?" Shira asked.
"The current alpha. Your mother. She's one of the most powerful alphas the Okami clan has ever had, which reminds me, have your powers improved at all over the years?"
"I don't know."
"Right, let's test them out then. We're going to play hide-and-seek without opening our eyes or talking, got it?"
Shira furrowed her brow.
"That's not possible."
Shay shook his head.
"Man, you've spent way too much time in that human village. Listen, you could do this even when you were four. You've just got to-"
As Shay blabbered on, Shira suddenly remembered that she could sense people's presences.
"I got it! Okay, you hide first," she interrupted.
Shay raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, if you think so. Close your eyes and keep them closed."
Shira did as she was told and instantly felt Shay's presence pulsing right next to her. This was going to be a piece of cake. It looked like she wasn't as useless as Shay had said she was.
"I'll be hiding now. You can come after me after five seconds. Just to make it easy, I won't even hide my aura."
Instantly, Shay's presence began to fade. After a while, Shira realized that it was mixing with the other living things in the forest. She couldn't tell which one was which. She started off towards the nearest aura, walking slowly to avoid hitting trees. As she reached it, she heard a flutter of wings and opened her eyes just as a startled sparrow flew away in a frenzy. These presences are all the same, she thought to herself. She couldn't tell the difference between a sparrow and Shay. She tried again several times, scaring off squirrels, birds, and eventually walking straight into Shay's wolf. She sat down, frustrated. A voice laughed at her from above.
"At least you'e not walking into stuff any more," Shay jumped out from a tree.
"How am I supposed to tell which presence belongs to who in such a huge forest?" Shira asked, annoyed at her failure.
"I see. So you can't see the shape of my aura. Well, there isn't much we can do about that. Let's try to at least find some way to hide your aura," Shay said, sitting down next to her.
"Why do I have to hide my aura?" Shira had finally learned that "aura" was the proper word for "presence".
"In case if my bodyguards catch up."
"How do I do it?"
"It's hard to explain. We were all born with this ability," Shay thought for a second. "Can you at least feel your own aura?"
Shira closed her eyes, and focused on her new task. She felt three auras. She distanced herself from Shay and the wolf, then focused again, and yes, there it was, one aura that was stronger than the other two, pulsing from within her.
"I can feel it," she announced. Shay let out his breath.
"Finally, something that you can do. Okay, now try to...um, swallow it, I guess."
Shira had no idea what he meant, but she tried to imagine her aura being engulfed and smothered by darkness. The image in her head looked convincing to her, but her aura was still there, just as strong as before.
"Can you demo it for me?" she asked Shay. Shay showed no signs of concentration or even preparation, but Shira suddenly felt an aura disappear from the three that she had identified. She gasped in shock.
"It's that easy?" she asked.
"It's the same as eating and breathing. Like I said, I could do it since I was born."
Seeing Shira's disappointment, Shay quickly changed the subject.
"You know that although you're completely useless at the other stuff, you've got this supposedly awesome power, right?"
"No," Shira lied.
"You're a horrible liar," Shay laughed.
Shira felt her face go red. She mumbled indignantly that she wasn't lying, but stopped after realizing Shay was just teasing her again.
"You probably know more about it. I just see it as a curse," she finally managed to say.
"You're not that wrong. It's why I'm here. The clan doesn't see you as a disgrace any more. Instead, you're a threat, because you've got this crazy power. Bad news is, they're trying to assassinate you since...you know, you're kind of bad at using your power. Even my bodyguards are trying to kill you."
"So why didn't you assassinate me?" For the first time in her conversation with Shay, Shira felt a little bit suspicious. If the whole clan wanted to assassinate her, why was Shay here telling her about it, as if he was warning her? Didn't that count as betraying the clan?
"Because-"
Before Shay could answer, something sounded in the distance. Shira immediately turned to where the sound came from, waiting for it to come again. It sounded exactly like the sounds from her dream: wolves howling and calling out to each other. Another howl sprang up somewhere much closer to them, as if it was answering to the first wolf. Shay's wolf got up and whimpered at Shay.
"I know, I know, of course they weren't sleeping. I was just kidding about that," Shay said to the wolf.
Shira flinched, remembering about the woman with the trident in her dream, and she thought about the hard amber eyes that had been haunting her for so long.
More and more howls echoed around them as Shira turned frantically to see if anything was attacking them. She slipped her knife out of her belt and swirled it in her hands, ready to take out anything. Something warm touched her other hand and Shira swung her knife, unaware that it was only Shay's hand touching hers. Shay stopped her arm in mid-air with his other hand, and then suddenly Shira heard a voice in her head. Can you hear me? Shira turned around wildly.
"Did you hear someone say something?" she asked Shay.
He was grinning from ear to ear. Then Shira heard the voice again. You can finally hear me telepathically! That's definitely an improvement. Okay, from here on out, don't talk any more. It's too dangerous for the enemy to hear us. If you want to say something, just say it in your mind and aim it at my aura.
Shira decided to test it out. Can you hear me? Shay nodded at her, still grinning. In Shira's head, Shay's voice started up again. Shira, keep calm and don't try to attack. Run if you get cornered. You don't stand a chance against any of these people. To be completely honest, even I'd have trouble. Keira's here, with her whole pack. Those bloody bodyguards just don't understand the concept of loyalty; they must've reported me to the alpha. Shira nodded. Got it, she responded. She was still curious about this new concept of telepathy, but shook her head, trying to focus on the situation at hand. Shay, does Keira like to use tridents? Shay looked at her. Only against people she really feels like killing. Normally, she just sits on her wolf and the rest of the pack does the work for her. She rarely fights. So you do remember some stuff, don't you? Shira felt as if a rock had settled in her stomach as she realized that the dream was real. No, I just had a dream about it some time ago. Shira now knew that the woman with the trident was Keira, her mother. Shay, she's here to finish me off, isn't she? Shay looked straight on forward into the trees. Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? Either way, we've got to try and prevent that from happening, don't we? He turned around and smiled at her, as if the whole thing was just a game. Shira knew that it was no game, but felt comforted nonetheless. That feeling was instantly shattered as bushes started rustling all around them.. Shay's wolf began to bark at the bushes, as if warning whatever was in there to stay away. The forest returned to its quiet state again as the rustling stopped, replaced by huffing and snarling. They were positioned in a circle, surrounding Shira and Shay, but none of them made a move. They're waiting for someone, Shira told herself, someone I do not want to meet.
Shira, run away before Keira gets here. My wolf will help you. Hurry! Shay's voice was commanding yet almost desperate, and Shira felt obliged to listen, but just when she'd started running away, something stopped her. She could sense at least ten auras back there, and she realized that she couldn't just leave Shay to fight all of them by himself. Another voice appeared in her head. Go back! What are you doing? Shira was surprised; did Shay's wolf just talk to her? Hey! Don't just ignore me! You are so committing suicide by going back there right now. The wolf stepped on her feet with one of it's enormous, silver paws. Shira looked at the wolf and focused on its aura, sending it a telepathic message. Let's go back and help Shay fight the enemy. It won't be an easy fight for him; he said so himself. The wolf persisted, pressing down even harder on her feet. Shay told me to protect you till we got away from the enemy. It was an order; I have to follow it. Shira was just about ready to give up fighting with the wolf when both of them heard a loud yell; the voice unmistakably belonged to Shay.
Shira told to wolf to let go. She could see that it was beginning to get convinced. She gave her foot a quick jerk and the wolf released her. Let's hurry, she told it, and started to run back in the direction in which she'd come from, the wolf at her heels. When they arrived, Shira was horrified to see Shay tied to a tree, but was even more startled to see that he was completely uninjured and still smiling. Shira was about to run up and untie him until she caught sight of something she'd been dreading the entire time: a woman with long hair sitting on a massive wolf, with a trident in her hand. Shira's breath caught; something about this woman gave her the urge to leave Shay and just run away as far as she could. Shay seemed to sense her fear.
"Don't get intimidated by her wolf! It's just ridiculously fat," he called out to her.
Shira's limbs unfroze. She was still terrified, but Shay calmness was almost contagious. Shira was thinking of ways to get past the wolf-lady when all of a sudden, the woman spoke.
"Shay, is this the girl we were looking for?" Her voice was cool and hard, like her eyes had appeared in Shira's dream. Shira felt lucky that the woman hadn't turned around yet; she did not want to see those eyes in real life.
"These eyes?" the woman turned around, her steely eyes digging like knives into Shira's.
Shira had to stop herself from gasping. The woman had just read her mind.
"That doesn't count as mind reading. You think in words, so I can hear you telepathically," The woman turned back to Shay. "Well, is she the one?"
"You bet," Shay responded, not seeming the least bit scared. "What are you going to do, Keira?"
Keira ignored him, and turned to face Shira again.
"Were you so useless that even the humans shunned you?"
Shira flinched; Keira had hit her weak spot, like sprinkling salt into a wound that hadn't yet stopped bleeding.
"I see. You really are a disgrace. Shay, good job for finding your sister so fast. We can kill her right now."
Sister? Did Keira just say "sister"? Shira was baffled. This was happening too fast. Was Shira supposed to be Shay's sister? She stood there, dazed, and watched as Shay argued with Keira for a while, not really hearing anything as the news began to sink in. Shira had had a family, a mother, perhaps a father, and a brother. She hadn't been always alone, like she'd always assumed.
"Shira! Run!" The desperation in Shay's voice was what snapped Shira out of her daze. She saw Keira get off the wolf, and twirl the trident a few times. I'm going to get killed now, she thought to herself. As Keira got closer, time seemed to slow down, and bit by bit, it looked as if Keira was trying to run through mud. Everything became silent. Shira was one step away from being killed by her own mother; so she decided that it was okay that she was going insane. A strange calmness spread through Shira's body, and her mind cleared. She thought back on her life, her miserable, pathetic life. She remembered the nights in the village when she'd walked past people's windows, seeing families laughing together in front of a warm fire. She remembered how her tears had frozen on her face in the coldest winter nights, and how she'd taught herself to keep them in, so as not to freeze her already-frozen face. She remembered how all the other children had parents and siblings to care for them, to laugh with them, even to argue with them. She remembered how everyone had looked at her as she was transparent, how the adults told the children to stay away from her, Shira the tragedy bringer. She looked back at Keira, who was now so slow it looked as if she was barely moving. I could run away right now, Shira thought, but for some reason, her feet didn't budge. Shira's tried not to look at Keira's face; she didn't want such an image to be her last view of the world, but curiosity took over her, and she looked up straight into Keira's eyes. They were just the same as always: so cold and hard, two pieces of ice. Shira couldn't tear her eyes away from them. The more she looked at them, the more she felt a strong anger blazing up in her. Keira didn't even lose her cool when killing her own daughter. Shira had never been the type who'd clung desperately to life, unable to accept death, but Shira realized that she could not tolerate being killed by her own mother. Her anger was like fire, raging and smouldering. She saw Keira's trident swing above her head, and felt for the first time in her life a killing intent so strong coming from her enemy. A faint smile tugged at Keira's mouth. That did it. Shira realized that Keira was actually enjoying herself, enjoying killing someone else. Her emotions engulfed her. She felt something rip in her body and suddenly, thousands of visions flooded her mind. She ripped the memory seal! Shira heard Shay exclaim to his wolf. Through her anger, she was still able to see a child version of herself playing close-your-eyes hide-and-seek with a very small Shay, and saw herself walking straight into a rock wall. A younger Keira was watching them, with softer features and slightly shorter hair. But she had the same eyes, so emotionless and indifferent.
In the present, Shira's anger had shattered her slow-motion world, and exploded, as if it was forcing its way out of her body. She did not know how, but Keira was sent flying backwards by Shira's outburst. Shira felt as if she was possessed by her own anger, and it seemed to form a new aura around her. She could see it clearly now; not just her own aura, but also everyone else's. Shira watched, through eyes that felt as they didn't belong to her, as her mother was smashed against a tree. She felt an intense satisfaction as she saw the cold look in Keira's eyes become replaced by shock, although it only lasted for a split second. Matching up against the title of alpha, Keira swiftly regained her position and gathered her wolf pack. Out of the corner of her eye, Shira noticed, for the first time, a look of fear spread across Shay's face, and his mouth moved as though he was yelling something at her. But Shira wasn't listening. No, she was laughing, laughing so hard that she couldn't hear anything else. She had just defeated the alpha.
"Don't get so full of yourself. Just because you didn't die immediately doesn't mean you've defeated anyone." Keira said.
The confidence and certainty in her voice didn't match her newly acquired injuries. Meanwhile, Shira was struggling to maintain her own conscience. She was obviously out of control, and she wasn't even sure what she was thinking any more. The only things moving her body were her anger and sheer instinct. She struggled to spit out her words.
"If I were you, I'd be embarrassed to call myself alpha," she finally managed to sputter.
Anger flashed in Keira's eyes for a moment. Instantly, the wolves were upon Shira, but the new aura surrounding Shira seemed to repel everything. The wolves only succeeded in diverting Shira's attention for awhile. Shira was unprepared when Keira suddenly appeared, trident in her hand, this time much faster. Shira noticed that her killing intent had become violently wild. Just before Keira's arm swung down, Shira's eyes met hers for a second. Two sets of amber eyes, one seemingly insane with anger, and the other blank and empty. Shira felt her own killing intent flare up. She had no time to think as she madly lashed out at Keira, with her mind and arms. Shira felt her body convulse as all her energy suddenly left her body. She didn't even know where she had aimed, but she knew that she was done fighting. If Keira was going to kill her now, she would have nothing left. She opened her eyes and looked at the results of her attack. She saw Keira lying in one corner, and relaxed. The attack had obviously taken out the alpha. However, she saw a silver wolf pad towards another tree. Shira turned around, wondering what the wolf was doing. What she saw almost made her cry out in shock. There, still tied to the tree, sat Shay, chest torn apart and blood covering his body, his breath shallow and fast.
Shira's knees felt weak, but she made herself walk over to Shay. Now that her missing memories were back, she felt much more connected to her brother. They'd argued a lot, like all siblings, and Shay had always made fun of Shira's missing powers. However, they'd always stuck together, and Shira understood now what Shay must've felt like when he realized that she'd forgotten everything about him. Shay, I got my memory back, she told him telepathically. We're siblings. I remember now. Shay didn't look up, but she could still hear his voice in her head. Shira, that was one damn cool attack there. Make sure you aim correctly next time. Then Shira remembered. She was the one who'd did this to Shay. It was because she couldn't control her power, so she didn't aim correctly. Shira tried to say sorry, but she wasn't even able to send it telepathically. She'd never felt so useless before, not even while she was in the village. She waited for Shay to look up, to smile, to present some crazy healing technique, but all he did was sit there. After a long time, Shay's wolf went behind the tree and bit off the rope. He's gone, the wolf announced. Don't blame yourself, Shira. Really. If he were here, he'd probably say the same thing. You've got to stay alive. You don't have to die just because people want you to. Shay came here to prevent your death, and the least you can do now is stay alive so that we can kind of convince ourselves his death wasn't for nothing. You should run now, before Alpha wakes up. Don't worry, we'll be with you, in your shadow, so you won't be alone. That's a saying from our clan. Then the wolf started digging a hole, and Shira supposed he was going to bury Shay. She looked at her shadow, created by the setting sun. Yes, she thought, my shadow will always be with me, she thought. It was a comforting thought. She started off in a random direction and kept walking till late night. Shira felt exhausted, and decided to take a break. She looked up at the moonless sky; it was completely dark, but her night vision allowed her to see perfectly well. It was then that Shira looked down and realized that, without any light from the moon, her shadow was already gone.